40: Royal Tombs of Ur, 2600-2400 BCE (The death of Gilgamesh)
Guest: Sheila We're so back! First, a Sumerian poem about Gilgamesh which mentions his trip to see Ziusudra (also known as Atrahasis, Utnapishtim, and/or Noah), which some have interpreted as evidence...
26 Jan 202556min
Update on the show & beveled-rim bowls
Check out episodes 17-28, most of which I re-recorded and reuploaded recently. New episodes on Early Dynastic Sumer coming soon.
7 Dec 20245min
39: Temples of Early Dynastic Nippur, 2900-2300 BCE (Enlil & Ninlil)
Guest: Stacy First, a story about Enlil, the Sumerian god of kingship, and his future wife Ninlil; he sees her bathing in a canal in their hometown of Nippur, and the narrative isn't especially concer...
23 Juni 202345min
38: Abu Salabikh and the first Semitic-language literature, 2600-2500 BCE (Debate between two women, Lugalbanda & Ninsuna)
Guests: Lily, Annika First: a literary debate between two women (much of its meaning hidden beneath several layers of abstraction). It tells us a lot about public expectations of Sumerian housewives, ...
21 Maj 202354min
37: The decline & fall of Kish, 2600-2300 BCE (Hymn to Shamash, Kesh temple hymn)
(Sorry I disappeared for three months! I burned myself out working on rewriting old episodes and had to focus on other stuff for a couple months. I'm back in the saddle now, with episodes written up t...
25 Apr 202349min
36: Interviews: Karrar Sabah on Eridu, Malath Feadha & Jaafar Jotheri on the geology of the Sumerian wetlands
Two interviews with three Iraqi academics! I interviewed Karrar Sabah Al Ramahi, then a PhD student at Baghdad University, about his research on the city of Eridu! Furqan Salam helped with the transla...
23 Jan 202358min
35: Shuruppak & the first Sumerian literature, 2600-2500 BCE (Instructions of Shuruppak)
Guest: Lily First: the world's oldest known wisdom literature, in the form of a series of proverbs delivered from the eponymous Shuruppak (king of Shuruppak) to his son Zi-ud-sura (alias Utnapishtim, ...
23 Dec 202259min
